Ryanair cancels many flights from Italy




Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has announced that the company will have to cancel more than 25% of its short-haul flights due to the outbreak of Covid-19 coronavirus disease , according to a statement on the company's website.

Trips will be canceled within a three week period from March 17th to April 8th.

All passengers are alerted of cancellations by e-mail and SMS. They may request a refund, reschedule or redirect a flight to other countries.

Ryanair reported a net profit of EUR 87.8 million in the third quarter of this business year ended December, compared with a loss of EUR 66.1 million in the corresponding period a year ago, the airline said in a statement Monday. The profit was mainly due to the successful performance during the holiday season.

It has already been reported that the Covid-19 outbreak and global measures to reduce the spread of the virus have affected demand for international air travel. SAS has announced that it will suspend flights to and from mainland China, but will also stop flights to Hong Kong from March 5.

To mitigate the impact of falling demand, SAS is implementing a number of cost reduction measures. In the short term, reduced capacity will reduce flight-related costs, such as aviation fuel, airport charges and more.